Chapter Text
In the quiet of the empty SVT ward, Ian sighed and pushed his glasses up his nose, flipping through the various patient notes for the night shift. It was always a hassle asking his mother's caretaker to stay the night, but he felt it wouldn't be fair to make Ada work every graveyard shift for his sake. When it was only the two of them on call, they had to split up the work as best they could.
He still worried that he could be doing more. Ada looked so tired all the time, no matter how hard she tried to hide it.
To his surprise, as he rounded the corner towards the main ward, there stood Ada. She looked even more exhausted than usual, eyes sunken into deep, dark circles behind her glasses, frizzy hair escaping from her loose ponytail. She was squinting down at her clipboard as if the contents were written in a language she couldn't decipher.
Why was she still here?
"Ada?"
She dragged her gaze up towards him, not quite reaching his face, more so looking through him.
"Hm? Oh, hey," she mumbled, half-lidded gaze focused somewhere over his shoulder. Ian glanced at the wall clock that read five to one.
"W–Wait, how long have you been here? Isn't your shift over? I thought Edega sent you home."
Ada seemed to consider this, frowning disconcertedly.
"Huh. I don't...remember. Maybe? Honestly, I...haven't really been paying attention to the time."
Ian's brow furrowed in concern.
"Well...when did your shift start?"
Ada stood there thinking for an almost worryingly long time. Finally, she muttered, "I think...uhhh...ten?"
"...This morning?" Ian did the math, and his stomach sank. It was a miracle that she was still standing. "It's nearly one AM. Ada, you—you need to go home. You need sleep."
She waved a hand dismissively even as she swayed unsteadily on her feet.
"Can't...can't go home yet. Too much work to do." She was briefly interrupted as she let out a loud yawn. "'M fine. I just...need...a..."
Ada trailed off as her eyes fluttered shut and she abruptly slumped against him. He frantically slotted his arms under her shoulders to keep her upright, placing a tentative hand on her back.
"A–Ada...?"
She didn't respond. Sure enough, she was sound asleep against his neck, still standing thanks only to Ian propping her up. Worry twisted sharply in his gut, and he adjusted his grip around her torso with a sigh.
Enough was enough.
"Ada." Ian shook her gently, and she startled awake. She glanced around, disoriented, before her bleary-eyed gaze finally settled on his face.
"Whuh...?"
He kept his hands on her shoulders to steady her.
"Okay. You just fell asleep standing up. I—I think it's time for you to go home."
She slowly blinked one eye and then the other, before blinking both of them hard and rubbing them with her fists, pushing her glasses up onto her forehead. Her mouth split open in another huge yawn.
"Yeah...okay," she mumbled sluggishly. Ian carefully took the clipboard from under her arm.
"Uh—just—stay here, I'll get your stuff."
Ian hurried to Ada's office to retrieve her bag and set her clipboard down on her desk next to a stack of papers. He returned to the hallway where Ada was slumped against the wall, still glancing around dazedly as if she had just awoken from a dream.
"When's your next shift?" he asked gently as he passed her the bag. Ada briefly removed her glasses, rubbing her temple with two fingers.
"Ugh...nine AM, I think?"
"Well, don't—don't worry about coming in on time. The intern and I can cover for you. Just...I want you to sleep for as long as you need. Okay?"
Guilt flitted over Ada's expression, briefly breaking through the haze of exhaustion.
"Oh. You don't need to—"
"Yes, I do. Just promise me that you'll rest. Please."
"...Okay."
Ian realized suddenly that he couldn't let Ada walk home alone. He pulled out his pager and quickly paged the intern, who had been checking on the Insomniac the last time he'd seen them.
"I'll walk you home," he said decisively. "I'll ask the intern to keep an eye on the patients. Most of them are asleep, anyway."
"You don't need to do that," Ada said softly, but they both knew it was a hollow protest.
"It's—it's really no trouble. I'm not letting you walk by yourself in the dark." Especially not in the state you're in, he didn't say.
They stepped out of the brightly lit hospital lobby and onto the dark, empty street, the inky shadows pierced only by the dim glow of the streetlamps. Ian wrapped an arm around Ada to keep her steady, and she leaned into him, resting her head against his shoulder as they walked.
"I can't believe Edega let you work that many hours and didn't say anything," Ian muttered bitterly. He paused. "...We should really be in a union."
"Yeah, probably." Ada let out another huge yawn, leaning heavily into his side as her eyes slid shut. "But good luck bringing that up with him."
They walked in silence for a good several minutes. Ian looked down at her, so spent and exhausted that she could barely walk. He swallowed around the tight knot of worry in his throat.
"You can't...you can't keep doing this to yourself, Ada."
Her eyes cracked open. She was silent for a moment before she spoke, chewing on her lower lip.
"I know. I just...worry," she said slowly, as if struggling to get each word out. "I worry about the patients every moment I'm not at work. I worry about you, and the intern, and...everyone. There's just this...this lingering fear that it's all going to fall apart if I'm not there, you know?"
Ada sighed.
"I dunno. Maybe that's just...ego..." Another yawn. "...egotistical of me."
"No, I...I get it. It's hard to...let go."
"...Yeah."
"But...everything's under control, I promise. You don't need to worry."
Ada hummed uncertainly, avoiding his eyes, and Ian frowned. It was at that moment that they reached the front entrance to her building, looming quiet and dark above them. Ian stayed close as she trudged heavily up the stairs to the third floor, making sure that she didn't miss a step and go tumbling back down.
"Here we are," Ada mumbled drowsily as they reached her apartment, pulling away from his side. Ian watched worriedly as she struggled to get her key in the lock, missing it three separate times before it finally slid inside and turned with a click.
"It's not all on you, you know," Ian said quietly as she pushed open her front door. She glanced back at him. "You don't need to do any of this by yourself. I'm...I'm sorry if I ever made you feel that way."
There was a shift in Ada's expression, something lonely and sorrowful leaking through the cracks from beneath. Her eyes glistened behind her glasses. She looked away.
"...'S okay. We've all got our own stuff going on. You already have your mom to take care of."
There was a sharp pang of despair in Ian's chest. Ada had so much on her shoulders, and it was in moments like this that the weight of it showed on her face. He wished desperately that he could dispel her worries in a way that mattered. At the very least, he wished that she would let him carry it all with her.
"Still," he insisted gently, almost pleading.
Ada looked at him again, expression cracked open and raw with vulnerability. She stepped forward and pulled him into a gentle hug, burying her face in his shoulder. She let out a long breath.
"I know," she mumbled into Ian's sweater. "Thank you."
After a moment, Ian wrapped his arms around her in return. He pressed his nose into her hair and sighed, holding her tightly. They stood there in each other's arms until Ada let go.
As she pulled away, she murmured, "Text me when you get back to the hospital, okay?"
Ian blinked in surprise.
"Oh, don't—don't worry about me. You need to rest. I'll be fine."
"Please?" Ada asked softly. "I just wanna know that you got back safe. You did the same for me."
She leaned against her doorframe in the dim, flickering light of the hallway, eyes dull and exhausted but so gentle. Ian's heart ached.
"...Yeah, okay. I will."
Fifteen minutes later, Ian stepped back into the hospital lobby, squinting a little at the harsh fluorescent lights. He didn't expect that Ada would still be awake, but nonetheless he remembered his promise and sent her a quick text: Back at the hospital. Please get some rest. A few moments later, a mildly incoherent reply popped up on his phone:
Yayyyyyyy :))
Ok I'mgonna pass outt now
Sorrry if youcant read this I'm rllyy tired
Thank yuo I loveyou
He breathed a sigh of relief, and then let out a snort. The words were followed by a long string of what he could only estimate to be dozens of heart emojis. He couldn't tell if it was intentional or if she had simply conked out with her finger on the button.
His own heart fluttered foolishly. No, he scolded it, like a disobedient dog. It doesn't mean anything.
Whatever the case, Ada would undoubtedly be embarrassed about it when she woke up. He chuckled quietly to himself and took a screenshot before preparing for the rest of his shift. To tease her with later, of course. No other reason.